Currently, content publishers typically individually negotiate advertising arrangements to monetize the publishers' content. For example, a publisher enters into an agreement to display an advertisement in exchange for payment from the advertiser. The publisher may want to specify that only particularly relevant advertisements or that advertisements with a minimum click-through rate are displayed. While advertisers can similarly individually negotiate such advertising agreements, advertisers are increasingly joining advertiser networks such as Google's AdSense and have long had the ability to hire a representative to negotiate the advertising arrangement on their behalf. Joining an advertising network allows advertisers to harness the negotiating strength of a large and powerful organization that may combine advertisements from hundreds or even thousands of other advertisers into a single advertisement supply entity with which individual publishers must negotiate. In the example above, an advertiser network or representative may have enough leverage during negotiation to frustrate the individual publisher's goals.
FIG. 1 is a diagram of relationships between advertisers and individual publishers. Arrangement 500 is illustrated in which publishers 502 and 512 may negotiate advertising agreements with advertisers 504, 514, 516, 518, and 508. Publishers 502 and 512 individually negotiate directly with advertiser 504. Because advertisers 514, 516, and 518 joined advertiser network 506, publishers 502 and 512 individually negotiate with advertiser network 506 to supply advertisements from advertisers 514, 516, and 518. Because advertiser 508 hired advertiser representative 510, publishers 502 and 512 negotiate individually with advertiser representative 510 to receive advertisements from advertiser 508.
In the current advertising environment, publishers lack the ability to effectively organize together to improve their negotiating position.